Page 26 of Distrustful
"It's okay," Trinidad gestures to the lawyer, intrigued by the child's question.
"My last name is Aleman, why do you want to know?"
Lili stands open-mouthed while thinking, then turns to Maria.
"Can I have your phone, please?"
Maria doesn't bother refusing, she knows that if she doesn't hand it over, the child will insist until she drives her crazy.
"You don't know this one?" the lawyer teases her with narrowed eyes while handing over the phone.
The child snatches it from her hands under Trinidad's curious gaze.
"She has a small obsession with the origin of last names, she knows almost all of them," Maria explains to her, "but apparently, not yours."
Lili turns around smiling after finding what she was looking for.
"Here it says that people with that last name usually come from Germany. Are you German?"
"Well, actually no," Trinidad responds amused.
Lili frowns.
"And your parents?"
"Neither, but maybe some great-grandparent was," Trinidad narrows her eyes and Lili smiles satisfied with the answer.
"Anyway, I brought you the documents. I need you to sign them," Maria says while handing them to Trinidad.
The businesswoman leans over her desk to sign them while Lili walks around the office observing the decoration.
"Here you go," Trinidad says and extends the folder toward Maria, but doesn't release it when the lawyer grabs it. "Did you have enough time to snoop around my office?" she asks quietly and Maria is flooded with embarrassment.
"How do you know?"
Trinidad sketches a mocking half-smile and points to the top of a filing cabinet, where there's a clearly visible camera. Maria looks at it perplexed, feeling stupid for not having thought of something so basic.
"I'm hungry, Maria," Lili says interrupting the awkward moment.
"Yes, okay. Wait a minute."
"But I'm really hungry, my mom and Ursula bring my snack to the school gate."
Maria turns red and Trinidad can't hold back her laugh.
"You haven't given the child her snack?" the engineer asks in a playful tone.
"I didn't have time," Maria defends herself, noticing how her heart speeds up every time Trinidad smiles.
"There's a cafeteria downstairs with very tasty things," Trinidad says looking at Lili, "want me to take you?"
Lili nods vehemently and Trinidad turns to Maria.
"Shall we?"
"Sure," she responds surprised and follows Trinidad and Lili, who has stuck to the businesswoman like glue.
While Lili eats a sandwich accompanied by a chocolate milkshake that she slurps noisily, the two women have ordered coffee and Maria listens with great interest as Trinidad answers all the questions that Lili is asking her. The businesswoman shows a patience and sweetness that Maria had never seen in her and that surprises her in a good way. The only thing she regrets is that the child is only asking about work things, because what the lawyer really wants is to know things about her private life.
